Wednesday, February 4, 2015

You Are Precious to God

We must never undervalue any person. The workman loves not that his work should be despised in his presence. Now God is present everywhere, and every person is His work. St. Francis deSales
I was driving on the interstate a few weeks ago on my way to meet a friend, and as is my nature, I was becoming rather irritated with the irrational driving decisions of those around me. It was beyond my ability to understand, why on this beautifully hazy winter day, drivers insisted on driving well below the speed limit or changing lanes without using their signal. The thought mystified me. So much so, that I may have begun to utter quietly some disparaging remarks about said drivers. Shocking, I know.

Under that hazy sunlight, in my speedy little van, I heard the voice of God. No, not audibly - Val Kilmer hasn't installed any speakers in our van to my knowledge. (100 points if you get that movie reference!) Still, I heard the whisper of God remind me that this clearly annoying driver was precious to Him. All I could think in that moment, after having expressed my annoyance, was, "You are precious to God." 

Every driver. All the way. "You are precious to God." 

That revelation has stuck with me for all these weeks. All these weeks I have been meaning to write about that day, and yet life has interrupted my best efforts. 

"You are precious to God." 

How much strife, division, conflict, anger, destruction, havoc - how much woundedness could we avoid if we remembered just that one thing. 

"You are precious to God." 

That desire that lies in the deepest recess of our hearts, no matter how much they are hardened by the burdens and beatings of life, to belong to someone, to be precious to someone. 

"You are precious to God." 

Yes, you, who have taken another's life.
Yes, you, who destroyed your family.
Yes, you, who injured me.
Yes, you, who destroyed the most innocent of children.
Yes, you, who are triggering in me the most violent anger.
Yes, you, who with whom I cannot seem to find a single common thing. 
All of you, regardless of who you are to me, you are precious to God. 

All this time I have wanted to write, and yet the words wouldn't come. Then a few days ago, just as I was ruminating on this phrase, this came into my email from Steubenville University:


What are the chances? For those who follow my blog, you'll know that Blessed Mother Teresa is a patron saint for our family, and that I feel a strong connection to her. It seems she was prodding me along. Maybe this message wasn't just for those other people. Maybe, just maybe, God was saying the same thing to me.

"I am precious to Him." 

With all my shortcomings, with all my quirks and failings and sinfulness and insecurities.

"I am precious to Him." 

No matter what someone else has done to me, called me, thought of me. 

"I am precious to Him."

Not in the future, not another day, but right now, in all my brokenness.

"I am precious to Him."

You are precious to Him. He created You. He calls you by name. You are His beloved, His son or daughter, His forever. 

No matter where you have been, where you are, or where you think you are going, you are never too far away to reach out for the love of the Lord. No matter what has been done to you, you are never too far away or too broken to let the Lord share His love through you. 

We must love better if we are to bring light to this dark world. If we are to leave our children with a better world than where we have been, we must love with abandon. We must let the Lord say to us and through us to one another, no matter what you have done, you belong to Him. 

"You are precious to God."








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